On Mar 10, 9:29 am, Brian Lafferty wrote:
wrote:
On Mar 10, 6:22 am, Brian Lafferty wrote:
wrote:
You announced that you had a case to present, Mr. Lafferty.
Kindly continue.
In due course, Mr. Brock.

You call my reputation into question without evidence. Convenient for
you....

I haven't spoken to your reputation at all. What I wrote was;

"Now that your here, Bill, tell us about those payments to Sevan M. from
ICA that were given in a manner that the IRS will be interested in. As
a CPA and president od ICA at the time, what was going on? I believe
there were ICA members who questioned the payments at the time and who
have been harassed for wanting the payments recorded and made in the
correct manner. If you need a refresher on that issue, I can help with
documentation."

To the best of my knowledge and understanding,
1. Payments were made to Sevan by ICA
2. You were at all relevant times a CPA and president of ICA.
3. Members of ICA questioned either the payments, the manner/method of
payment and accounting thereof or both.
4. Members who questioned the matter were apparently subjected to
harassment of varying types.
5. Some ICA members did not believe that the payments to Sevan were in
accord with IRS rules governing non-profit organizations.

I am fact-checking and will reply in full as soon as time allows--this
may be a day or two, as it's tax season for both the current ICA
Treasurer and myself. However, statement #2 is the only one I
recognize as correct with respect to my brief tenure (1/1/2005 to 8/5?/
2006); #5 may have true during my tenure, but if so, I was unaware of
it.

Re #1: virtually all (and perhaps all?) ICA funds in question were
with respect to the Spring 2005 Muradian/Panner FIDE event. ICA
raised money to fund this event, there was no personal inurement to
Muradian or Panner, and most prizes/appearance fees were disbursed by
ICA directly to the participants. Certain Muradian out-of-pocket cash
expenses may have been reimbursed by ICA; I don't recall.

Re #3: I am not aware of an ICA member questioning these expenses
during my tenure. Seriously. This obviously happened after my
tenure.

Re #4: From the outset, I made no secret of wanting to exploit 501(c)
(3) status to the fullest extent possible. However, I also called for
doing things by the book, sought professional counsel (one CPA with
extensive USCF experience & one nonprofit attorney) & the advice of
officers (including the ICA Treasurer, a fellow CPA more knowledgeable
in these matters than I am), board & members. And I made it clear
that such matters were to be approved by the full board. #4 is simply
incorrect during my tenure. Chris Merli is much nicer than I am, so I
can't imagine its happening after my tenure, either. I participated
in this thread after my tenure but don't consider it on point:
http://www.ilchess.org/icaforum/view...07+il+ denker

Re #5: at least one former ICA member believes that he is an operating
Thetan. Many people have strange beliefs: it's a free country.
Seriously, I became acutely aware of #5, but only some months after
leaving office.

As I had several dealings per day with "chess drama-queens" (my wife's
happy phrase) in those seventeen months, I may well have forgotten
something. My response to all questions, and especially #1, is
**expressly provisional**. However, I make all of these statements in
good faith, having spent several hours last night reviewing relevant
minutes and correspondence, and will gladly revise without prompting
if I subsequently discover an error.

***

Now to your statements of yesterday, Mr. Lafferty. If I am the former
president of a nonprofit organization, and also a CPA in public
practice, and you state the IRS will be interested in auditing
nonstandard transactions of that organization, you know very well that
that speaks to my professional reputation and my personal integrity.

If calling my reputation into question is not your intention *now*,
Mr. Lafferty, you may wish to withdraw the statement and apologize.
Or you may wish to repeat your imitation of Mr. Cheney. Keep in mind,
however, that you have once again placed your own reputation in play.

If calling my reputation into question remains your intention, you
will argue your case (facts and the law) here. Or perhaps someone
with standing will proceed in a more formal venue.

***

Readers, if you get involved with USCF, expect to have your character
called into question by Sloan, Parr, Lafferty, and their ilk--those
who play with the reputations of others for sport.

It is certainly easier to run the average $5 million nonprofit than a
state chess organization with a $25,000/year budget.

***

Tax season: bye!